What goes in wine??

[willp58]

For some reason, I thought grapes ONLY were used to make wine..Now I see every kind of berries and even plums mentioned.
Is it grapes? Or are berries and plums etc..added to the juice?

[wondersofwine]

Purists will say that by definition, wine can be made only from grapes. They refer to the other beverages as fermented fruit drinks, fermented plum beverage or juice, etc. In a Chinese restaurant you will likely see "Plum Wine" on the menu. In Germany you may encounter "Erdbeerenwein" (Strawberry Wine). This board is dedicated to the discussion of the fermented grape product.

[winoweenie]

heck fire Willip, you can make fermented juice from almost any vegetable, berry, or object that sugar can be added to for fermentation. WW. Wine is only made from GRAPES!!!!!

[Innkeeper]

You may have also seen plums & berries menitoned in notes on grape wines. These other fruits are not added to the grapes, but the grapes themselves have the complexity, growing charateristics, and vinting and storing conditions that impart to the wine flavors that can be compared to other fruits, spices, etc. These flavors can be picked up on the nose, or on various parts of the tongue and palate.

[Thomas]

My suspicion is that IK is correct: you are likely referring to descriptives that people use to identify certain wines.

Grapes are filled with myriad components. When they are fermented into wine, grapes undergo many chemical changes. Those changes create aromas and tastes that mimic other fruits and plants, mainly because the chemistry that results from fermentation is altered to mimic the other plants.

[wineguruchgo]

You will also see descriptions that include: Tar, Leather, Smoke, Chocolate, Honey, etc.... I can guarantee you that none of these are actually added to the wines.

[Thomas]

unless the road crew produced the wine...

[Kcwhippet]

Road crew. That must refer to Michel Rolland and his crew.

[willp58]

OK thanks..
Yes I saw here the descriptions of wine tasting like plums etc and thought that possibly plums were indeed added.
So then with grape juice alone, a person could make his own Cabernet for example?

[Innkeeper]

Right, so long as it was made with cabernet grapes.

[willp58]

"as long it's made with cabernet grapes"

I understand that to a certain extent..

For example, I live in Concord country..There are some local wineries that use the concords and get a variety of wines from *ONE* variety of grapes..

How?

[Kcwhippet]

Lots of defferent ways. They can harvest just before maturity for a lower sugar, higher acid wine. They can harvest when the sugars are very high for a sweeter wine (can you say Manischewitz). They can bleed off some of the juice after crushing and make a lighter style (sort of blush) wine with it, and what's left makes a more concentrated wine. They can cold soak the juice in contact with the skins to make a more extracted wine. Etc., etc., etc.

[Thomas]

and they can add other grape varieties to the mix to alter flavors.

[willp58]

Aha, I see there is more to making wine than stomping grapes..LOL

My only experience with homemade wine is the old stuff called "dago-red"...My uncles made this kick-a-poo juice and after you choked down one glass, it got "better"..

I'm asking these questions regarding flavors because I want to attempt making some wine myself now..But NOT like the old stuff.